Greenhouse Gases
Live atmospheric concentrations of the key greenhouse gases driving climate change – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – along with their historical trends and climate impacts.
Fetching live greenhouse gas data...
FAQs
FAQs
What does the greenhouse gases page show?
Live atmospheric concentrations of the three main long-lived greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) - alongside their long-term ice-core records stretching back hundreds of thousands of years. Current values and recent monthly trends are in the live panels above.
Which greenhouse gases matter most for climate change?
Carbon dioxide is the largest single contributor to human-caused warming and the longest-lived in the atmosphere. Methane has a much shorter lifetime but a far stronger warming effect per molecule. Nitrous oxide has a long lifetime and is the third-largest contributor. Fluorinated gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF₆) and water-vapour feedback also play a role; the major three are tracked on this page.
Where does the greenhouse gas data come from?
Modern atmospheric measurements: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, including the Mauna Loa Observatory and the global air-sampling network. Long-term ice-core records: EPICA, Vostok and Law Dome projects, archived at NOAA NCEI. Live monthly updates are sourced via the global-warming.org public API which mirrors the NOAA feeds.
How are the numbers expressed?
CO₂ is reported in parts per million (ppm). Methane and nitrous oxide are reported in parts per billion (ppb). Trend lines remove the seasonal cycle to show the underlying year-on-year change. Pre-industrial levels (around 1750) are noted on each chart for reference.
How often is this page updated?
Monthly atmospheric measurements refresh each month, typically within a few weeks of the measurement date. Ice-core records are static historical archives that do not change.